


Fire in your bloodstream (moving through you at light-speed)

by MYuzuki



Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [31]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ring of the Lucii (Final Fantasy XV), Time Travel Fix-It, oh look the culmination of a plot point!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26581147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: It takes them less than twenty-four hours to make the arrangements for finally putting The Plan into motion.
Relationships: Ardyn Izunia & Everyone, Noctis Lucis Caelum & Regis Lucis Caelum, Nyx Ulric & the Lucii, Regis Lucis Caelum & Nyx Ulric
Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897525
Comments: 14
Kudos: 135





	Fire in your bloodstream (moving through you at light-speed)

**Author's Note:**

> So! Here we are. ;D I hope you guys enjoy this latest installment of the fix-it.

**Fire in your bloodstream (moving through you at light-speed)**

* * *

It takes them less than twenty-four hours to make the arrangements for finally putting The Plan into motion.

Three and a half of those hours are spent carefully explaining the situation to Noctis and Lunafreya, both of whom are going to be involved in the process of purging Ardyn of the Starscourge and daemons that are plaguing his body (Noctis because the magic he wield as a Lucis Caelum is needed along with Regis and Nyx's power, and Lunafreya because she is the only _true_ healer they have available and her abilities could prove useful should something go horribly wrong).

In the end, they all end up standing in front of the Crystal together, all four of them who are bound to the Lucii in one way or another.

Regis is standing between Ardyn and Noctis (the King is clearly uncomfortable with having the two of them in such close proximity, which is rather unsurprising given how they're theoretically destined to kill each other), and Nyx stands on Ardyn's other side, while Luna stands a short distance away, sandwiched between Cor and Clarus for safety.

Noctis, looking vaguely dubious about the entire production, glances over his shoulder at Luna, who offers up a strained but encouraging smile. The prince gives a small nod in return, a faint warmth creeping into his expression before he turns back around to face the Crystal again.

Nyx can't even begin to imagine what sorts of thoughts are going through the kid's head right now; just a few hours previously they'd been dumping all kinds of information on him, from Ardyn's backstory to the original fate that the gods had planned for their Chosen King (Nyx hadn't been so sure about disclosing to the prince the fact that his destiny was to martyr himself, but Regis had made the executive decision that telling Noctis was imperative because otherwise they might not be able to persuade the prince to help them, not unless he knew the high the stakes really were).

It would be a lot for anyone to process, much less a twenty year old prince who's already dealing with plenty of his own problems, but as far as Nyx can tell the kid's handling it admirably. Or at the very least wearing a good poker face, which is almost as good.

(Nyx will never forget that moment, when they'd finished laying it all out for him: the tragic past, the messy present, the potential futures, and their own plans for how to move forward without needing to sacrifice anyone. Noctis had expressed varying levels of disbelief throughout the entire tale, occasionally asking questions to clarify certain points but otherwise but listening to what they had to say.

"What do you need me to do?" Noctis had asked once they were done explaining it all, looking nervous and uncertain but also resolute.

So they'd told him, assured him that the odds of dying were so low as to be negligible because it wouldn't be a single man channeling the colossal power of the Lucii alone but all three of them, Regis and Noctis and Nyx together.

And he'd agreed, without a single second of hesitation. "I trust you," was all he'd said when his father had asked if he was certain. "If you say that this is the best option, then I believe you. Especially if you're right and this will prevent me from dying as some sort of stupid sacrifice," he'd added with wry little smile. The he'd looked right at Nyx. "I trust you," he repeated, as if Nyx was the one who needed reassuring.

Amused and touched in equal measure, Nyx had nodded, a fraternal sort of warmth creeping into his chest. "Thank you, Your Highness," he'd said, and that was that and they'd moved on to a whirlwind of preparations.)

And now they stand four abreast in front of the Crystal. No one speaks, but Nyx can feel the tension in the air, can feel the crackle and hum of power as they all stand there, magical energy sparking out from each of them.

Then the ring on Regis's hand glows with arcane energy and they're all shifted sideways into that other place, the realm of the Lucii where time stands still and the Kings of Old loom above them.

(He sympathizes with Noctis, who gives a little sound of surprise at the shift, clearly having never before been subjected to a visitation with his ancestors.)

"So you have decided to pursue your own path after all," one of the ancients says, and from the way Ardyn tenses all over like he's bracing himself for a fight Nyx is willing to bet good money that the one speaking is none other than Somnus.

(And isn't that interesting, because Nyx _recognizes_ that armor; he'd stood upon its shoulder, once upon a time in a different lifetime.)

"We have," Regis confirms, voice steady and unwavering.

"Are you certain that this course of action if the right one, young king?" another Lucii says, voice melodious in a way that implies femininity; one of Lucis's ancient queens, perhaps.

"I am," Regis replies.

A third Lucii gives a low hum, leans forward to tower above them in a more direct fashion (in what Nyx privately suspects is an intimidation move). "Your faith in the interloper's plan must be considerable indeed," they remark, tone just one shade shy of open condescension.

Regis clearly hears it, too, if the way his eyes narrow into an almost-glare is any indication. "Nyx Ulric is far from an interloper," he retorts, voice deceptively mild in a way that suggests trouble for whoever it is directed at. "He is one of my most loyal commanders, and it is thanks to him that we are even able to consider this course of action."

Nyx can _feel_ Ardyn's gaze on him, that razor-sharp focus that makes his skin itch, but pointedly ignores him, keeping his own attention fixed firmly on the Lucii.

"Yes," the Lucii are saying now, voices tinged with vague disgruntlement. "We are aware of his involvement, and what his stolen power allows him to do."

"It's not _stolen_ , you gave it to me," Nyx snaps, a knee-jerk reaction of indignant rage quashing his resolve to keep quiet. "It's not my fucking fault you don't remember."

"Nyx, please," Regis says, just a murmur, but a slightly plaintive one. _Stop picking fights with my ancestors_ , he doesn't say, but the subtext of it is definitely there in his voice.

Nyx huffs, but subsides with a grimace, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jacket so he's not tempted to flip off the Kings of Old. "Your Majesty."

(Ardyn and Noctis, meanwhile, are wearing matching expressions of barely concealed confusion, and the sight of it would almost be enough to make Nyx laugh if the the current situation wasn't so incredibly serious.)

"Commander Ulric's power is his own," Regis says now to the Lucii, politely but firmly shutting the door on that avenue of conversation. "Just as my power is my own, and my son's power his own. And it is thanks to our combined power that we will be able to purge the Chancellor of the Starscourge plaguing him."

" _Former_ Chancellor," Ardyn puts in, seemingly unable to keep himself from interjecting, even as the Lucii towering above him mutter angrily at his presence.

Regis slants an irritated look in his direction, a look that Ardyn simply returns with a sharp smile and an obnoxious tipping of his hat in faux-deference.

"We have come here," Regis continues after a moment of heavy silence, turning back to the Lucii, "so that you, great Kings of Old, can lend us your own strength as we agreed upon the last time we spoke, so that the threat of the Long Night can at last be laid to rest."

"And we shall lend you that strength, as we agreed," one of the ancient kings echoes, his voice thrumming with power and reverberating through the air. "In combination with the power possessed by the three of you, the Scourge shall be cleansed from the Accursed."

"Now," the Lucii say, all their voices speaking in unison as a bright circle of magic forms on the ground, lined with symbols and sigils that Nyx can't even begin to recognize, "step forward."

Another stretch of silence descends as they all brace themselves for whatever will come next.

And then, in tandem, they step forward into the light.

What happens next is something of a blur to Nyx, too chaotic for his mind to do more than pick out snatches of what transpires.. But he knows that he, Regis, and Noctis are all pouring their magic into that circle, and that the circle is doing s _omething_ to Ardyn. Cleansing him, presumably, although judging from the way the former High Chancellor is screaming like he's being skinned alive the process isn't exactly pleasant.

There's power swirling all around them, too, almost too strong to fathom and weighed down by the sheer force of the Lucii and their ancient existences; it spins around them like a maelstrom, wild and ferocious and with the same destructive potential of a wildfire burning across everything in its path.

It would be terrifying, Nyx thinks, if he didn't already have firsthand experience with that power, hadn't ended his last life with it twined within his own soul, pulsing in time to his own diminishing heartbeat.

As it is, the sensation is almost bittersweet in its familiarity, as is the sizzling burn that slips through his veins when the magic he's using surges higher and higher, tangling with the power that Regis and Noctis are throwing out, all of them focused on Ardyn and the Scourge that's inside of him.

(He can tell, just from the feel of the power coursing through him, that channeling this much magic on his own would absolutely without a doubt kill him, just as surely as it would have killed Regis or Noctis had they attempted it on their own; the sheer intensity of it is enough to burn through anyone's life force, royal blood or not, just as the power Nyx had been granted all those months ago in another world had turned him to ash and dust at the end of it all.)

Finally, after what could have been a literal eternity or perhaps just a few moments, the rush of magic peaks, and there's an explosion of light and sound that blasts out from the circle, eclipsing Ardyn from sight and knocking the rest of them flying.

Nyx is conscious just long enough to see Regis reaching towards Noctis, and then everything goes dark.


End file.
